As general background information, the following are mentioned.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,367 (1979) discloses phyllosilicate minerals which are superficially etched with dilute acid to remove an outer octahedrol layer under specific conditions to preserve structural integrity. The acid etch is said to expose silanol groups receptive for subsequent condensation with an organo-silane in a suitable solvent under mild conditions.
As is also known, cellular glass pellet cores have been bonded to and coated with fly ash particles. Such pellets are rather large, on the order of 0.5 to 20 mm. Such materials are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,202.
Various coupling agents composed of organo-functional silanes plus an amine silicate and treatments therewith of reinforcing fibers are also known. Such an amine silicate component has a degree of polymerization less than 1000. It is said in U.S. Pat. No. 3,649,320 (1976) that the formulations enabled better control over the spatial arrangement of the coupling agent about the surface of the reinforcement material.
Efforts to improve the compatability of organic polymers and resins with pre-heated coal fly ash are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,284 (1982) as partially covering coal fly ash with an essentially hydrophobic mono-molecular partial coating of a chemical agent, the thickness being under 100 .ANG..
In the past, efforts to dissipate and control static electrical build-up necessitated use of carbon powder fillers in composite materials. These composite materials, laden with carbon, were used to prevent static electricity build-up in hospitals and, for example, computer centers. Disadvantageously, however, such composites exhibited poor physical properties.